1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to a torsional vibration damper having a drive-side transmission element and a driven-side transmission element which can deflect rotationally relative to each other against the action of energy accumulators.
2. Description of the Related Art
U.S. Pat. No. 5,810,138 discloses a torsional vibration damper with a drive-side transmission element, a driven-side transmission element, and energy accumulators operatively arranged therebetween. This torsional vibration damper is associated with the piston of a lockup clutch of a hydrodynamic clutch arrangement, e.g., a torque converter. For this purpose, the torsional vibration damper is connected by its drive-side transmission element to the piston of the lockup clutch so as to be fixed with respect to rotation relative to it, while the driven-side transmission element is fastened to a sleeve that is connected to a transmission input shaft so as to be fixed with respect to rotation relative to it.
The energy accumulators are arranged on a relatively small radius around the axis of rotation and are arranged tangentially in recesses of the transmission elements. In the operating state, the center coils of the energy accumulators on the circumference side are extensively bent radially outward due to centrifugal force. This bending is limited by the radial outer side of the recesses. Accordingly, the coils of the energy accumulators are protected against extreme bending loads on the one hand; but on the other hand a friction action is caused between the coils of the energy accumulators and the radial outer sides of the recesses during a relative rotational deflection of the two transmission elements. This friction action increases as the rotational speed increases. However, since there are normally no large torsional vibrations in the range of higher rotational speeds, the decoupling quality of the torsional vibration damper is substantially worsened as a result of the aforementioned friction action.